Brooke Steinicke

History 1700Samuel Dodge

Midterm Writing Assignment
America as we now know it was not even a concept in the minds of the early-
eighteenth-century colonists. American identity did not exist in the early colonial times.
Colonists thought of themselves as Englishmen and not Americans. Which lead to the
American Revolution, the Second Great Awakening, and many different political ideologies. The
American Revolution was a secular affair and the Founding Fathers had great opposition in
politics and religion. They established the separation of church and state in the first amendment
to the Constitution. This was not an easy task to complete, there were many changes of the role
America played in Christianity from the colonial period up through the Second Great Awakening
causing a series of religious revivals and political ideologies.
The Enlightenment in America was an intellectual movement that started in Europe
during the seventeenth century. The way that colonists lived and how well they lived, whether
they were male or female, and immigrant, native-born, slave or free, played a huge role about the
individuals relationship to nature, society, and God. During the eighteenth century the inner
lives of the colonist became even more involved and pronounced. Philosophes started to grow
and stressed the power of human reason. Benjamin Franklin was the most impressed by the
Enlightenment he created so many things that played a huge role in the future of America. He
pondered air currents and invented a stove that heated houses more efficiently. American
colleges started to arise and promote Enlightenment thinking.
By the middle of the eighteenth century rational Christianity came about. Rational
Christianity gained followings from Anglicans or liberal Congregationalists in the colonies. They
believed that Gods greatest gift to humankind was reason which would allow all human beings
to follow the moral teaching of Jesus. Overall, Enlightenment philosophy and rational
Christianity did not really change the lives of many colonials.
The Great Awakening was a period of great revivalism that spread throughout the
colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. It made church doctrine of a lesser importance and put a
greater emphasis on the importance of the individual and their spiritual experience. The Great
Awakening in America played a huge role as well as the enlightenment in America. There were
many different philosophies being brought to the table. The consumer revolution brought many
colonies together to strengthen America. I think that The First Great Awakening was a very
important part of forming America, it gave people the chance to be reborn through religious
conversion and overall had a great effect on the people. I think that it is good for a country to
have opposition and revivals and that is exactly what the Great Awakening brought. There came
a chance for the people to choose what they wanted to believe and who they wanted to follow, it
caused a raging storm of controversy. So many new churches were being formed I love when the
book quotes Although Americans had been fighting over religion well before the Great
Awakening more divided along religious lines. I think that is astonishing how Americans stood
their ground and formed so many different groups.
The different ideologies had a great influence on the different colonies. Some colonies
were very strong in religion, others in education bringing about several different churches and
schools. Ideology, religion and politics all shaped peoples attitudes about the government and
the way it was organized and operated. Even today religious beliefs have a very large effect on
the political views of each religion. It is interesting to think that even in the colonial times these
ideologies had the same effect on the different religions. Religious beliefs and ideologies affect
the opinions of Americans on the worlds economic and political structure. The book quotes
The Federalist and Republican parties looked both forward and backward: toward certain
traditions of the past as well as toward newer social currents. I found this very interesting
because it shows that the opposing parties both cared about what was happening in America and
it changed how they viewed themselves. There were so many different beliefs that influenced the
people in many different ways.
Overall, America has gone through and experience so much change when it comes to
religion and the role is plays on political beliefs. The biggest time of change was from colonial
times up through the Second Great Awakening. With the First Great Awakening cam the great
opportunity to win converts between and within all of the different churches. I believe that the
most important change was within the First Great Awakening with religion became more about
the individual and less about the actual doctrine. It was the start of a whole new revolution. It
was about following the teachings of Christ. It is amazing to learn about all of the changes and
hardships Americas had to go through to get where we are today.